Over the past nine years I’ve had the chance to test a vari-ety of scopes and binoculars manufactured by IndustriaOptica Romana S. A. (Romanian Optic Industry), better

known simply as IOR, of Bucharest, Romania and imported byValdada Enterprises. A relative newcomer to the U.S. market, IORhas been steadily making inroads among serious shooters here inthe United States.

This has been accomplished despite having a name unfamiliarto American shooters. They have been successful by listening touser feedback and steadily evolving their product line to bettermeet the needs and desires of American riflemen. Actually, IOR’sline of rifle scopes have dramatically changed since I first handledone years ago.

Back then their flagship scope was a 2.5-10x42mm with a30mm scope tube. Today IOR offers scopes with the U.S. stan-dard 1-inch tube and European standard 30mm tube, as well as35mm and even 40mm tubes. In addition, the engineers at IORhave pushed the envelope of optical design with scopes sportinga 6- and 7-fold magnification increase in place of the traditional3- and 4-fold increase. I haven’t written anything on IOR scopesin the past year and a half, so I decided it was time to take an-other look at this interesting company and see what they are cur-rently up to.

Before we delve into their latest offerings though, lets take alook at both IOR and their importer, Valdada Enterprises. The first

thing one will note when researching any older European opticsmanufacturer is the significant role they played during the variouswars of the last century. Carl Zeiss, Hendsoldt, Meopta and manyothers all played a significant part during the war years.

The same holds true with IOR. This company has seen livelydays and producing tactical scopes for sniper rifles is nothing newto them. Born in 1936 in the southeastern part of Romania, In-dustria Optica Romana was the creation of three very prominentEuropean corporations: Malaxa-Carp, Optique De Le Vollois andBernard-Turnne.

Shortly after its birth, IOR played a prominent role in supply-ing military optics, first for the Axis, and then Allied, war efforts.At the beginning of World War II Romania allied itself with Ger-many against Stalin’s Soviet Union. Romanian troops went off towage war against the Red Army in 1941 in an ill-fated attempt toreclaim territory, Bessarabia and North Bucovina provinces, lostto the Soviets in 1940.

Romania played an important role on the Eastern Front in thenumber of men committed, her vast oil reserves and Marshal IonAntonescu’s willingness to stand by his German allies almost, butnot quite, to the very end.

In June of 1940 Romania could field an army of more than 1million. IOR was tasked with pro-viding troops with military field op-tics (such as binoculars, altimeters,

compasses) and aiming apparatus for fighter planes, tanks andself propelled guns, submarine periscopes, giant naval anti-air-craft binoculars, artillery trench rangefinders, etc.

Of interest to us is the fact that IOR produced sniper riflescopes and mounts for the standard Romanian sniper rifle, a Brno-produced ZB-24. These rifles were chambered for the standard7.92x57mm cartridge and utilized the familiar Mauser 98 action.Mounted atop the receiver in-line with the bore was a heavy steeltwo-piece base. This held a simple but rugged Luneta 4.5x28mmscope.

It was built using a robust 30mm straight steel tube and wasfitted with a straightforward post reticle. The system, althoughsitting very high, was both uncomplicated and sturdy, while pro-viding slightly more magnification than the Soviet 3.5X PU.

These sniper rifles were normally issued at the platoon level.Snipers were selected for their marksmanship abilities; they wereusually the best shots in their 56- (1941) or 51- (1942-1945) manplatoon. Romanian snipers were assigned to the platoon head-quarters unit. This gave the platoon leader control over his organicsniper, and allowed him to send him where he was needed most.The Luneta 4.5x28mm topped ZB-24 Mausers remained standardissue for Romanian snipers into the 1970s.

Can this Balkan nation produce scopes Americans willaccept? The answer seems to be yes, especially in thetactical and .50 cal. markets.

By David M. Fortier

Romanian troops relax on the Eastern Front in 1942. The sniper carries a captured Sovietrifle. Romanian industry, including IOR, struggled to meet demand. (MMN Photo)

IOR produced Luneta 4.5x28mm scopes for the World War II VB-24 sniper rifles, usedinto the 1970s, and the LPS 4X 6° Type 2, shown here, for the PSL sniper rifle.

Although certain units, such as the Mountain Infantry and Cav-alry Brigades, were professionally trained and led, most Roman-ian units consisted of poorly trained conscripts. Romania’s mostdire shortcoming during the war, though, was its lack of industri-alization and manufacturing capability.

This meant Romanian units were chronically short of tanks,anti-tank guns, artillery and aircraft. Even so, many Romanianunits fought with distinction against the Communists. As an ex-ample, men of the Romanian 20th Infantry Division were awardedmore than 50 Iron Crosses, and their commander was awardedthe Ritterkreuz, after one action in Stalingrad.

With a desperate need to expand anti-tank gun production, IORwas greatly expanded in 1943 to increase its manufacturing ca-pability. However Romania never was able to properly supply hertroops with heavy weapons. This in turn led to Romanian unitssuffering staggering casualties.

While part of the Axis, Romania suffered the fourth-highestcasualties of any Axis country. In the end bravery, without ade-quate armor or air support, was not enough to stem the RedArmy’s onslaught.

With the Soviet hordes overwhelming in number and Ger-many’s defeat imminent, the Romanians, like the Finns, wereforced to turn against their German allies. From August 1944 on-ward, Romania fought on the side of the Allies. Mistrusted anddisliked by the Soviets, poorly equipped Romanian troops werefrequently used to spearhead Soviet attacks. In doing so Romaniasuffered the third-highest casualties on a percentage basis of anyAllied nation during the war.

After the war Romania, and IOR, found itself trapped in theSoviet sphere of influence. However they maintained their closeties with certain German companies and in 1967 started to ex-pand their collaboration with the giant German manufacturers ofPentacon, Fog-Gorlitz and Schneider.

During this time the firm continued to produce military opticsas it had previously. One project undertaken in the 1970s was de-veloping and producing a new sniper rifle scope to replace theobsolete Luneta 4.5x28mm scope.

The new scope was for the ZB-24 sniper rifle’s replacement,the Puska Semiautomata Luneta (PSL) or Scoped Semi-automaticRifle. This was a 9.5-pound gas-operated, magazine-fed, self-loading sniper rifle chambered for the Soviet 7.62x54R cartridge.To meet this need IOR developed the Luneta Puska Semiautomata(Semi-automatic Rifle Scope) 4X 6° Type 2. A relatively smalland lightweight optic, it has a 24mm objective lens, 4X magnifi-cation and a fairly wide 6° degree field of view.

In basic design and function, this optic is simply a copy of theRussian PSO-1 (Pritsel Snaipersky Optichesky-Sniper OpticSight). It attaches to the rifle via a simple adjustable throw leversystem and sits slightly off-center to the left of the rifle’s bore. Toincrease the sniper’s survivability on the battlefield, it features apermanently attached extendible sunshade.

Ballistic adjustments are made by uncapped target turrets. Theelevation knob features a bullet drop compensator with settingsfrom 100-1000 meters. Windage adjustments are very coarse, in1/2 mil clicks, and the reticle is non-centered and moves in theFOV as adjustments are made.

The reticle is identical in layout to that of the PSO-1 and is de-signed to allow rapid ranging and engagement of man-sized tar-get. For low light use the reticle is Tritium illuminated.

Optically the 4X 6° Type 2 sports good resolution. The lensesare coated and the image is fairly bright thanks to a 6mm exitpupil. Field of view is also quite generous at 6°. For use out to400 yards the 4X magnification works well.

It’s adequate for engaging man-sized targets out to perhaps 600yards, but I find it lacking past this distance. IOR’s 4X 6° Type 2became the standard Romanian sniper rifle scope during the ColdWar and remains in service to this day. It is currently fielded byRomanian troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is alsowidely encountered in Iraq mounted on insurgent sniper rifles.

Valdada Enterprises was founded in March 1993 to import hunting scopes. Today Val-dada’s line has greatly expanded and their hunting scopes are significantly improved.

Fixed-power tactical scopes were an important part of Valdada’s early years and con-tinue to be offered today. This 10x56mm was developed in 2003 for a USCG contract.

While they were first offered with metric adjustments,IOR scopes made the switch to inch adjustments in 1997.Side focus replaced adjustable objectives around 2001.

Valdada introduced 6-24x50mm tactical scopes in 2001. These sported 1/4 moa clicks,side focus and illuminated reticles. This model later was offered with a 35mm tube.

2003 proved to be a big year for Valdada. The new 1.1-4x26mm CRT, developed forthree-gun competitors, proved an immediate hit thanks to its fast sighting capability.

With the 1.1-4x26mm, CRT Valdada introduced the newCQB reticle. This provides the useful combination ofspeed at close ranges and precision at greater distances.

Remembering their inability to adequately supply their mili-tary forces during World War II, IOR was greatly expanded overthe years. In 1975 an increased level of collaboration with CarlZeiss, Hensoldt, Leitz, and Leica began.

Carl Zeiss in particular played a key role in modernizing IORwith not only modern equipment, but also technical expertise toproperly utilize it. A second plant was opened and by 1978 IORhad become one of the largest suppliers of military optics in theworld, employing some 10,000 workers by the mid-1980s. In1989 IOR entered the fields of opto-electronics and thermovision.

In 1992 a young Romanian immigrant named Valentin Leatuimported a small quantity of IOR optics into the U.S. market.Leatu went on to found Valdada Enterprises in March 1993. Fromthis point on, the names IOR and Valdada were to become linkedin the minds of American sportsmen. Valdada Enterprises slowly

grew from humble beginnings.When first launched the com-pany offered three products, a7x40mm porro prism binocu-lar, a military compass and a6x42mm hunting scope.

The scope was very Euro-pean in nature and featured a26mm tube, post reticle andmetric adjustments. In a recentinterview Leatu recalled, “Icouldn’t give that model scopeaway; it was just too Europeanin design for your averageAmerican hunter.”

So Leatu worked with theengineers at IOR to make theirscopes a better fit with theU.S. market. In 1994 he added4x32mm and 8x56mm riflescopes to his line with 1-inchtubes and plex reticles.

Then came Valdada’s firstvariable power scope, a 2.5-10x42mm. This model still

featured metric adjustments and the reticle was located in the firstfocal plane. Still, it was a start and showed Valdada, andIOR, was serious about the U.S. market. In 1995Valdada brought out the popular M Series oftactical scopes.

Based upon the military LPS, they fea-tured 4X magnification, 24mm objectives,bullet drop compensation, an illuminatedrangefinding reticle and a 30mm tube. TheM2, originally developed for a Greek andTurkish military contract, proved to be verypopular in the U.S. This was due to the amount offeatures it offered at an affordable price.

In an attempt to win a USMC contract for .50 cal.anti-materiel rifle scopes, Valdada and IOR developed a

10x56mm in 1995. This featured Val-dada’s ahead-of-its-time MP-8 reticle,one-piece steel 30mm body and a sin-gle-rotation elevation turret with met-ric adjustments.

In late 1995/early 1996 Valdadabrought out a 3-12x50mm tacticalscope with an adjustable objective andsingle-rotation elevation turret and a10x40 bino. Although IOR’s engineerswere working to refine their product tobetter fit the U.S. market, the IOR ofthis time period still looked out ofplace.

In 1997 Valdada was finally able tointroduce inch (.5 moa) adjustments,rear focal plane reticles and illumina-tion to their scope line. The 3-12x50mm became a 4-14x50mm andthe 2.5-10x42mm received a larger30mm tube. In addition a 10x50mmbinocular was added to the line.

It was during this period of time thatU.S. shooters really began to noticeValdada Enterprises. Although thescopes were beefy-looking, the opticalquality of their lenses and lens designwere surprisingly good, thanks to Ger-man Schott glass, arguably the finestoptical glass in the world.

U.S. shooters are a picky bunch, andthey demanded more changes. So Val-dada worked with IOR to make theirdesigns more compact, lighter and re-

placed the adjustable objective models with side-focus knobs.They also began to use new alloys in their manufacturing process.

Up until 2001 Valdada’s flagship tactical scope was their 2.5-10x42mm. In 2001 Valdada added a new and more refined 4-14x50mm and a big 6-24x50mm to their tactical line. Thesefeatured 30mm tubes, .25 moa adjustments, alloy tubes, sidefocus, illuminated reticles and large field of views. These addi-tions greatly expanded Valdada’s line, making it much more ver-satile.

Gone were the heavy steel tubes and bulky AOs. Long rangeshooters liked the robust scopes with their beefy mechanismblocks, audible and tactile adjustments and excellent optical per-formance.

In 2003 Valdada developed a modern scope specifically forthree-gun shooters and assault rifles, the 1.1-4x26mm CloseRange Tactical. At 10.5 inches long and weighing in at 20 ounces,it was well suited for use on the increasingly popular AR plat-form.

Built on a 30mm tube it features 1/2 moa adjustments, an ad-justable diopter eyepiece and a battery powered illuminated reti-cle. With the 1.1-4x26mm CQT Valdada also introduced their newCQB reticle. This consists of a thick “horseshoe” forrapid target engagement at close range,along with bullet dropholdover points for useout to 800 yards.

In the center of the horseshoe was a small dot for precisionwork. The end result was a highly effective reticle which was bothextremely quick at short range yet allowed targets to be easily en-gaged at extended distances. A very well thought out design, theCRT proved popular with competition shooters and black rifle en-thusiasts.

With the addition of the CRT, Valdada offered variable powertactical scopes from 1.1-4X up to 6-24X. In addition they also of-fered an array of fixed power tactical scopes and a variety of hunt-ing scopes.

2003 would prove to be an important year for Valdada and IOR.Towards the end of the year the engineers at IOR proved their ex-pertise in the field of optical design when they set the opticalworld on its ear with the introduction of 6 to 1 multiplier scopes.

Traditional American scopes offer a threefold magnificationincrease, most familiarly the 3-9X. European scopes on the otherhand traditionally offered a slightly higher fourfold increase, such

At the end of 2003, Valdada unveiled the 2-12x32mm tactical, which was the world’sfirst six-to-one multiplier scope. It was a chunky and angular piece of equipment.

In 2004 Valdada expanded the sixfold multiplier line withthe 3-18x42mm tactical and partnered with Optolyth, andbegan offering its respected German spotting scopes.

Optolyth spotting scopes are currently

offered in a variety of sizes and types, such as this 80mm model which is available with

both straight and angled eyepieces.

Valdada offers a number of eyepieces for their line of Optolyth spotting scopes and will be introducing a fixed30X with a new rangefinding reticle for tactial use.

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as from 2.5-10X. At the end of 2003 IOR and Valdada introduceda compact tactical scope running from 2-12X. Basically they ac-complished, in a very compact package, something many opticalengineers thought was impossible.

Valdada’s new 2-12x32mm was only 10 inches long andsported a fat 35mm tube, side focus knob, target tur-

rets and an illuminated MP-8 reticle. At the2004 SHOT Show German,

Czech, American andJapanese optical engineers

stood around the Valdadabooth examining thisscope and scratching

their heads.

The 2-12x32mm was followed shortly by a 3-18x42mm Tacti-cal that quickly proved popular with long range tactical shooters.Built on a 35mm tube, it combined a very wide magnificationrange with excellent optics in a package shorter than a Leupold3.5-10x40mm LR/T.

The next addition to this family was a compact 1.5-8x26mm.Intended for use on ARs and similar rifles, it allowed a riflemanto crank his magnification down to 1.5X for close-range work andthen dial all the way up to 8X to identify and engage distant tar-gets. In doing so it offered approximately twice the magnifica-tion of competing scopes.

In 2004 Valdada went both big and small. On the small side, they brought out the fixed-power 3x25mm QR-TS to compete with Trjicon’s ACOG. An interesting roof prism design,the QR-TS featured an integral MIL STD 1913 mount and railson the scope tube. Fitted with .25 moa adjustments and an illuminated CQB reticle, it is a tough, if somewhat blocky and

heavy, scope. This same year Valdada also brought out a 9-

36x56mm scope built on a 35mm tube. In-tended for target shooters, Valdada claims

it was the first scope in this magnifica-tion class offered by any European op-tics manufacturer.

In 2006 Valdada partnered with thewell respected German firm of Op-tolyth to bring its high quality spot-

ting scopes to the U.S. market.Optolyth is an Old World Ger-man optics manufacturer knownfor designing and manufacturingspotting scopes with superb opti-cal quality and innovative designfeatures. Currently Valdada offersOptolyth’s collapsing 25x70 miniand 15-15x80mm spottingscopes.

These collapse in the fashionof an old 19th Century naval tel-escope, making for a very com-pact package while still offeringexcellent optical performance.Valdada also offers Optolyth’srigid body scopes with 65mm,80mm and 100mm objectives.

Most models are available witha straight or angled eyepiece, and

High Definition APO glass is also an option on some models andstandard on the 100mm.

At the end of 2006 IOR and Valdada upped the ante in the tactical scope market when they again pushed the limits of riflescope optical design. While their sixfold magnificationscopes had been ground breaking, they went one better by introducing the world’s first scope with a sevenfold magnifica-tion increase.

Officially introduced at the 2007 SHOT Show, IOR’s new MX-7 design zooms all the way from 4X up to 28X. Built on a 40mmtube (yes, 40mm!) it’s 16.5 inches long, weighs 39 ounces andhas a 56mm objective. It features an oversized elevation turretthat provides 25 moa of adjustment in a single revolution. Totaladjustment range is 90 moa in .25 moa clicks.

In addition to this impressive optic, I.O.R. also introduced a new 4-14x50mm model, called the Ultra, designed expresslyfor use on .50 cal. anti-materiel rifles. Also built on a beefy 40mm tube, it features 125 moa of adjustment in .25 moa clicks.Length is a fairly compact 15.25 inches and it tips the scales at 36 ounces.

When I asked Leatu why they went with a 40mm tube hereplied, “Because we can, and we wanted to offer the public a newlevel of innovation, value and performance.”

Today Valdada Enterprises offers a diverse line of fixed andvariable power hunting and tactical scopes from IOR. These runthe gamut from low magnification scopes suitable for CQB orbrush hunting to large high magnification scopes intended forlong range competition or professional use. Since IOR scopesfirst reached U.S. shores they have developed a reputation for pos-sessing excellent optical properties. This is in part due to theirhigh quality Schott optical glass combined with how IOR designs,grinds and coats their lenses and how they design their opticalsystems.

Since first being introduced IOR has continually refined their mechanics to improve repeatability and durability while at the same time making their scopes both lighter and more compact. IOR and Valdada have also become known for their innovative reticles, large diameter elevation turrets, wide FOVand 35/40mm scope tubes. Innovations such as their six- and sevenfold magnification increase scopes have also set them apartfrom the crowd.

Along with IOR scopes Valdada also offers a variety of Amer-ican made rings (1 inch, 30, 35 and 40mm) in either a lightweightalloy or machined steel. American made steel bases and acces-sories are also available. In addition, Valdada continues to offersteel IOR-manufactured QDS European mounts in 1 inch, 26 and30mm.

Valdada’s Romanian IOR manufactured riflescopes and Amer-ican-made rings/bases are complemented nicely by their GermanOptolyth spotting scopes. They even have their own line of tripodsand tripod heads. Plus Valdada carries both IOR and Optolythbinoculars.

The future? I doubt Valdada will slow down anytime soon.They will be releasing a compact 10x28mm Optolyth monocularwhich will be available both with and without a modified MP-8reticle, which allows rangefinding. Also soon to be released is a new fixed 30x Optolyth eyepiece with a brand new ranging reticle.

Plus they are coming out with a new quick-detach system for MIL STD 1913 rails. This will be U.S. made and will be available with 30, 35 and 40mm rings or just as a rail extension.There are also rumblings of new, and interesting, scopes on the horizon. Once looked down upon as an unknown optics company from a backward Eastern Bloc country, IOR (thanks to Leatu’s forward thinking) has proven capable of impressive engineering feats. If you are considering a new riflescope or spotting scope, Valdada Enterprises’ line is one toconsider.

In 2006 Valdada added this 1.5-8x26mm tactical scopeto their 6 to 1 multiplier line. Built on a 35mm tube, itfeatures an illuminated reticle and .25 moa adjustments.

Valdada unveiled a new 7 to 1 multiplier scope in 2007. Called the MX-7, it zoomed from 4X to 28X and was built on a fat 40mm tube. It’s for big sniper rifles.

At the request of a snipershide.com group buy, Valdada introduced a 1st Focal Plane version of the 3-18x42mm with their new elevation turret and .1 Mil adjustments.

Developed for use on .50 cal. rifles, Valdada’s 4-14x50mm Ultra features 125 moa of adjustment, an oversized elevation knob and a 40mm tube. It’s sized right for big .50s.

Valdada Enterprises303-979-4578 | www.valdada.com

Source

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